By CINDY BISHOP

cindy.bishop@gaflnews.com

CORDELE — A north Georgia man is facing charges in Cordele after leading local police early Wednesday morning on a high speed chase that ended in Abbeville.

Roosevelt E. White, 62, of Toccoa was arrested and charged with two counts of theft by taking and one count each of fleeing/attempting to elude and reckless driving.

The charges stem from an early morning incident that began at Watson’s Food Store on East 16th Avenue.

Around 8:10 a.m. Wednesday, Cordele police officers responded to the store in reference to a reported gas drive-off. When he arrived at the business location, Capt. Tommy Jackson saw store employees pointing toward a dark colored passenger car, driven by a black male.

As Jackson approached the vehicle, the driver turned out of the store’s parking lot and headed east on Highway 280 at a high rate of speed. Jackson and other officers got behind the car and ended up crossing over into Wilcox County.

Officers pursued the vehicle through Seville, Pitts and Rochelle. As the chase approached the town of Abbeville, however, officers with the Abbeville Police Department were able to deploy stop sticks across Highway 280. When White’s car struck the stop sticks, his tires were punctured, thus rendering the vehicle inoperable.

Officers from Cordele and Abbeville managed to bring the vehicle to a complete stop and took White into custody. No one was hurt in the incident.

Further investigation into the gas drive-off revealed that White also had entered the store and allegedly taken items from inside without paying for them.